Tezuka Osamu Astro Boy figurine

(ACTOR’S VOICE) CHEUNG SHUK HAN:

My name is Cheung Shuk Han, but people call me Han-jeh.

In 1994, I started my toy business. When we went to Japan to source products, Astro Boy merchandise was too expensive for my customers. Luckily, in 2016, we got the chance to license the character and manufacture the toys ourselves. We received lots of input from fans. The toys turned out great. 

There are passionate fans all over the world, both guys and girls. One of my most memorable customers has a rare illness. He relies on Astro Boy for emotional support. He even brings a toy with him whenever he goes to the hospital.

Astro Boy now spans several generations. Some of my customers are in their 70s. They grew up watching the show on TV, and now that they can afford the merchandise, they want to buy it to bring back their childhood memories. It connects families, too. Once, a little boy walking by my store with his dad said, ‘Dad, Grandma likes this character. Buy one for her!’ His grandma was in her 80s. I thought that was so special—that a young kid would actually remember what his grandma likes.

This is an Astro Boy wind-up toy. Astro Boy is the main character in a manga of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. The toy is a piece of branded manga merchandise sold in 1960. It is 35 centimetres high, 20 centimetres wide, and nine centimetres deep. It is made primarily of metal.

Although Astro Boy looks like a human boy, he is actually a robot. This wind-up toy is one of forty Astro Boy toys and figurines displayed in this exhibition. This version of the boy robot has a round baby face and big bright black-and-white eyes looking to his right. The fine eyelashes painted around his eyes give them an extra sparkle. He has curved eyebrows, a delicate small round nose and a gentle, friendly smile. His short black hair is brushed back neatly, exposing his ears. He has two protrusions on his head, a slightly larger one on the front left side and a shorter one lower down on the right. His hairline dips down into a widow’s peak between his eyebrows. He has a relatively flat torso and cylindrical legs. He is wearing green shorts with a red waistband and a pair of round-toed knee-high red boots. His neck, shoulder joints, thigh joints, and ankles have obvious joint seams that allow for limited rotation.

The manga’s title Astro Boy is also sometimes translated as Mighty Atom.